Table of Contents

April 3, 2006

Taking March Madness to a new level, 11th-seeded George Mason reached the Final Four with the most improbable run in history. With no No. 1 seeds left and a trio of young players leading the other finalists, could the Patriots pull off the ultimate miracle in Indy?

Not all the reminders of the Steroid Era are gone yet, but the good news is that the new generation of hitters has a natural athleticism and a tough drug policy to help keep them--and their statistics--free of suspicion. Fans, breaking attendance records, are falling hard for a more exciting and cleaner game

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In the 67-yearhistory of the NCAA tournament, there has never been a championship gamebetween SEC teams. Can redshirt freshman Tyrus Thomas (above) help LSU get tothe finals for a potential showdown with Florida, which beat the Tigers twicethis season? Or will UCLA and George Mason continue their thrilling runs? Get aFinal Four preview and tournament coverage at SI.com/collegebasketball.

Follow all theaction from the women's Final Four in Boston at SI.com/collegebasketball, withreporting and analysis from Kelli Anderson, Richard Deitsch and TracySchultz.

The Pistons,Spurs and Mavericks are in a dogfight for the best record in the NBA. But aretheir coaches willing to risk wearing out such stars as Rip Hamilton (below) inan effort to land the playoff-long home court advantage, which comes withwinning the most regular-season games? Find out what the coaches told MartyBurns, at SI.com/nba.

If you're notfamiliar with Ian Kinsler, Josh Barfield and Kenji Johjima, chances are thatyou will be soon. In John Donovan's look at impact rookies, he shares histhoughts on Kinsler, a Rangers second baseman; Barfield, a Padres secondbaseman whose father, Jesse, was an outfielder for the Blue Jays; and Johjimaof the Mariners (above), the first Japanese-born catcher to play in the bigs.Read about it at SI.com/baseball, where you can also find out who Tom Verduccithinks will win the MVP, the Cy Young and other major awards.

PHOTOJOHN W. MCDONOUGH (GUILLEN)

¬†58BACK-TO-BACK?Behind manager Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox have all the pieces to win theirsecond straight Series.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything